Back & Forth
by CatTheRiver
Summary: The child of some infamous time travellers proves to be just like her parents. That might not be so good in a situation like this though.
1. Let's Play a Game

After a short walk home from the bus stop, Ayra had reached the front door of her mother's townhouse. After unlocking it, she threw her worn-out messenger bag next to the pile of shoes and peeled off her leather jacket and threw it on top. It was a beautiful autumn day, and on most days like this, Ayra would be out walking around her 22nd century urban Toronto neighborhood, admiring the old buildings and peering through shop windows to see if there was anything new worth buying, but for some odd reason, she didn't feel like going for a stroll today. Maybe it was the math test she had done a mere hour ago, maybe it was something in the air, even Ayra herself couldn't pinpoint it. Instead, she promptly plopped herself on the couch, took of her grey boots and reached for the TV remote. She browsed through all the channels, but there was nothing entertaining on. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes. For the first time in ages, Ayra was bored. She fell back onto a fluffy decoration pillow, causing her mane of dark blonde curls to fly and land directly in her face. She fidgeted until she was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, and then pushed her hair off of her face, creating a fan of bushy curls around her head. She laid there for a couple of minutes, wondering what she could do to erase this boredom of hers. She peeked at her watch. 3:52 pm. Another 2 hours until Mom got home. She got up and walked into the kitchen, grabbed a tangerine from the bowl of fruit on the island and then sat down on one of its surrounding stools. She had only eaten 2 pieces when an idea sprung into her mind.

"But what if Mum finds out?" she thought to herself, toying with it the possibility "What if I'm not back before she is? She hates it when I leave unannounced."

Ayra finished off the remaining pieces while she contemplated her idea. She decided to give it a try, but she'd have to have some kind of backup plan, worst case scenario. After all, things wouldn't be there if they weren't worth trying just once, right?

She pushed the stool back under the kitchen island and headed upstairs towards her bedroom. After a quick change into cargos and a white t-shirt, and tying her large curls up into a messy bun, she put on her boots and jacket and walked up to her mother's bedroom. She gently pushed the door open, revealing a large room with a bed at the back adorned with the bluest bed linens. The fading daylight peeked through the white curtains, casting shadows one the dark wood floors. Ayra crossed the room to her mother's right bedside table and opened its drawer. She shuffled through the pictures of her as a baby, her mum and dad on holiday and her grandparents next to the tree on Christmas morning. She looked under the books, through a cacophony of pens, hair ties and bobby pins, even in her mother's infamous blue diary, hoping maybe it would be hidden within its folds, but no such luck came to her. She walked around to the other table but, again, was met with the same result. As Ayra searched throughout her mother's room, looking in closets and drawers, she kept hitting dead ends.

Just as she was about to leave, something caught her eye. The bottom right corner of her mother's mattress was slightly more elevated than the rest of the bed. Having far too much curiosity for her own good thanks to her father's genes, she kneeled beside the bed, lifted the mattress and found exactly what she was looking for.

"Finally" She murmured to herself.

She pulled her finding out from between the mattress and box spring and strapped it onto her wrist, standing back up in the process.

"Who knew a vortex manipulator could take so long to find?" She thought, slightly annoyed at the 40 minutes it took looking for the gadget.

She returned to her room and opened her dresser's top drawer. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver, hot pink and a gift given to her from her father on her 16th birthday.  
>Such a great day that was; having her parents both in the same place at the same time despite the squiggly timelines. She loved that, at least once, they were all in the same place together. She cherished these moments, knowing they didn't happen often.<p>

She placed the sonic in her jacket pocket and lifted her arm, pushing her sleeve back to reveal the vortex manipulator's screen. Her mother never showed her how to use it (and Ayra had never seen her mother use it anyways) so she punched in some random numbers frantically, hoping she'd end up somewhere peaceful and nice when she pressed the "Transport" button, perhaps even somewhere tropical where she could go for a relaxing swim. Fingers crossed, she took a deep breath and hit the button, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and electricity.

...

Feeling her feet on solid ground, and her body not freezing nor burning to death, Ayra opened her eyes. She looked around the room and recognized her surroundings almost immediately.

She was in her father's study, in the TARDIS. She let out the deep breath she had taken in seconds before and relaxed all of the tension in her body. She peeked her head out of the door, and upon seeing the corridors of the TARDIS, was instantly relieved knowing she could get to the console room in one piece and get back home (Her dad had only given her a few lessons, but she had a good idea of how to do it).

As she approached the staircase, her pace slowed to a creep. She wanted to make sure that there was no one to scare or whose timeline she would alter, so she was careful with every step she took. She walked up to the opening at the top of the staircase and poked her head out to see if anyone was at the console. Luckily, Ayra saw no one and began to creep down the stairs. She'd made it down all but one step before she slipped on the last and landed (luckily on both feet) with a loud bang onto the metal landing.

"Damn these lanky legs." She muttered silently as she regained her balance.

Just as Ayra was about to continue her way down the stairs, someone appeared from behind the console, wielding some kind of firearm. As the figure moved in closer, she realized who it was.

It was her mother, River, and her plasma gun was pointed right in Ayra's direction.

It was then that she realized that she hadn't travelled to some other place, but clearly, some other time, and this was a time where her own mother didn't even know her yet.

"Who's there? Don't you dare move or I'll shoot!"

Ayra reached into her jacket pocket in a panic, grabbing her sonic and pointing it at the vortex manipulator, as River steadied her gun with her other hand and moved closer. She pressed the sonic's button, hoping it would return her back home, but very much to her dismay, the manipulator exploded and sent a few sparks towards her hair, slightly singeing a couple hanging curls of hers and causing her to shriek.

"That's it, now I've really done it!" she thought to herself as she pressed her sonic's button a few more times hoping some kind of miracle would happen. Instead, she was met by River's loud voice again as she barked "I said don't move!" and her quickly approaching figure.

Ayra, seeing no other way out, replaced the sonic in her jacket pocket.

"Shit." She whimpered in fear, as she raised her arms up like a criminal caught in the act. She felt her stomach churn, turning her butterflies of excitement into stampeding rhinos of nervousness.

River quickly ran up the stairs, plasma gun still aimed at Ayra, and stopped just a few steps below her, taking a strong stance.

"Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?" she said, lowering one arm to her side. Ayra had begun to shake slightly and bite her lower lip when, finally, she burst out her alibi.

"I really didn't mean to do any harm, I swear! I was just really bored and there was nothing on but crap telly and I wasn't in the mood for a walk or a bike ride so I thought you probably wouldn't mind if I used your manipulator just once, so I kind of borrowed it from you but then I tried to go back home using my sonic because I was scared you'd ground me or something, but that just blew up the manipulator and burned my hair and I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry and I won't do it again!" she blurted out, her nerves speaking for her rather than her brain.

"What?" replied a very confused River, pausing a few seconds before speaking to digest Ayra's outburst.

"I said I was bored and I just-"

"No, no, I get that part, but how in god's name did you get my manipulator? I don't exactly leave it lying around. And you still haven't answered my previous question; who are you?"

Suddenly a tip from her mother returned to Ayra's mind.

_If you don't know where or when you are and someone asks you about yourself, just answer with "Spoilers", even if that someone is your father or myself. You don't want anyone's timeline altered by you and you can't let them know about their future because it might end up changing things for the worse, so just say it when things like that happen. Trust me, it works every time._

In compliance with her mother's wishes, Ayra said it.

"Um, spoilers?"


	2. Lights & Noises

"River, imagine it! Stars of every single colour spread out across the night sky like never ending 20th century Earth disco lights! Every star in the cosmos' glow changed by the atmosphere of Carymlon IV to become a spectacle of colours, every colour found and ever colour yet to be discovered and all of them in the night sky for your eyes to take in!"

The Doctor was moving around the TARDIS console, flipping switches and turning knobs, twirling as he glided awkwardly around its edges, looking like a drunken baby giraffe learning to walk.

"You see, River, the high amount of Neon gas in the atmosphere reacts with tetranylic chemicals that are exhaled from the trees to create a sort of light prism and then it expels light in every hue of every colour, making a big mish mosh of colourful beauty!"

River watched from one of the jump chairs as her whimsical husband's level of excitement rose to the point where she was sure he'd be bouncing off the walls if it weren't for the TARDIS' gravity setting.

"I'm sure it's wonderful, sweetie, but what's the big occasion? There must be a reason for such excitement over silly little stars." She said, crossing one leg over the other.

"Silly? _Little? _River, this is an astronomical phenomenon! There is nothing silly or little about an astronomical phenomenon!"

"Call it whatever you like, love, I'll call it what it is after I've seen it myself" she replied "But you still haven't answered the other half of my question. What's the big occasion?"

"What, I can't attempt to woo my wife with stars, just because I feel like it?"

Just then, the Doctor's movements were swiftly interrupted as River darted up towards the console and pulled a lever.

"Hey! I thought we had a deal, Doctor Song!" he exclaimed as he turned to face her "You pilot whenever there's rescuing needed and the rest of the time, it's my turn."

"This is true, but there was a rescue needed; _hers._" She said, clad with a smug look on her face, pointing at the TARDIS' time router.

"She was fine and most definitely not in need of rescue, River."

"I beg to differ, sweetie. You left the brakes on again. If you keep riding her with the brakes on, she will give out on you one of these days."

"But that means no noise and you know how much I love that noise!" The Doctor pouted like a pre-tantrum toddler and folded his arms across his chest.

"Sweetie, that noise is her telling you that you're doing something wrong" She walked up to him and placed a hand on his jaw, cupping lightly and began stroking her thumb against his cheek "I know how much you like it, but it's not something you want to hear."

The Doctor, still being rather childish about the fact that he didn't get to hear his noise, looked away from her and pouted even harder. River rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her hip.

"Now you were saying something about multicolor stars?" she said, trying to get him to snap back into his adventurous self.

The Doctor turned back around to face her and his pout faded into a smile. He bopped her on the nose, rose off the console and grabbed her by the hand.

"How about I just show you instead?" He said, grinning as he walked towards the TARDIS door, hand in hand with River, twirling her around once or twice along the way.

He opened the door and gestured for her to exit.

"Ladies first, as they always say."

"Oh, and what makes you think I'm a lady?" she replied with an eyebrow raise and a smirk

Her smug expression quickly changed to one of awe as soon as her eyes were set on Carymlon IV's night sky.

The Doctor chuckled lightly as he walked up right behind her and placed his hands around her waist.

"See? Astronomical phenomenon. Told you so." He whispered as she intertwined her arms with his.

"Oh, shut up." She leaned her head back against his shoulder and smiled.

They stood together, wrapped in each other's arms, for what seemed like hours. Not long after the Doctor had placed his arms around her had they started swaying to the romantic ballad that the TARDIS played to accompany the moment.

"It's beautiful." River silently said, lifting her head to see his face.

He hummed in agreement.

"Thank you, sweetie." She added, kissing him lightly on the cheek "Much better than Stormcage."

He simply smiled back. Words weren't needed at moments like these

They swayed together for much longer, neither of them making a sound. Serenity, pure and sweet, was something they rarely go to experience together, so when moments like this happened, they made sure nothing ruined them

_And I want to wake up with the rain  
>Falling on a tin roof<br>While I'm safe there in your arms  
>So all I ask is for you<em>

_To come away with me in the night  
>Come away with me<em>

The rest of the night passed by in a haze and all of it was illuminated by the multicolor sky of Carymlon IV. Things didn't get more peaceful, or perfect, than this.

They walked back to the TARDIS, hand in hand, fingers lightly interlaced. Their arms swung back and forth, the way that high school sweethearts' did.

Once inside, they walked straight for their bedroom. Most, if not all, of their nights ended this way, except tonight they weren't headed there for that reason.

They sat down next to each other on the edge of the bed, kicked off their boots and snuggled up on top of the blue satin duvet.

River laid down in her favorite spot; her head was on his chest, so she could hear the soothing combined rhythm of his two hearts, and her arms were around him. One was draped over his middle so her fingers could dance around as they pleased (or get to work if she was feeling particularly cheeky) and the other was tucked under his body, her hand lightly rubbing his side.

The Doctor was doing nearly the same. One arm was wrapped under her with his hand right at her waist, one of the many places it fit perfectly. The other was strewn just under his slowly rising and falling chest, his hand waiting for River's to refrain from its little dance and join it.

They laid there, romantically intertwined, for hours, continuing their sweet silence. The Doctor's hand eventually joined River's in its own innocent choreography, tracing sweet nothings in Gallifreyan along her side, it wasn't until both of their limbs had tired that someone finally spoke.

"You know, this bed does have other uses and this right here is one of them. I quite like this one, as a matter of fact." The Doctor threw in, his voice so low and hushed that it was nearly inaudible.

"Are you saying you don't like the other one? Because if you are, sweetie, I'll have to tell you to just put up with it." Said River, once again clad with a smug look on her face "A woman, no matter what kind and especially one locked up in prison, does have needs and those needs have to be fulfilled."

"No, no, of course not" he replied, chuckling lightly. "Between you and me, _that_ _one_ is my favorite. I was just saying that this use of our bed is one that I enjoy very much."

"Well, in that case," she paused her nearly silent words to look at him and then added, smiling "I completely agree."

He looked down at her beaming face and decided to join her with his own look of glee. He really did love seeing her this way. Her eyes gained a twinkle that not even the brightest star could match (he'd seen that very star, as a matter of fact, and it wasn't even close) and her lips curled upwards just shy of looking as though she was faking emotion, but enough to let anyone who saw her know that she was truly happy.

Before he knew it, those very lips were on his, pressing an innocent kiss to them. No dueling tongues or teasing bites, which were par for the course on their bed, but a chaste and romantic kiss with their lips just lightly grazing each other.

After a few more, River propped herself up on her elbow, keeping her other hand joined with his on top of his stomach.

"You know what's funny, sweetie? This is the one time you can ride something with the brakes on and not have it be something bad." She said, smirking.

"Good observation, Doctor Song. On the downside though, I still don't get my noise."

"Oh, so you've decided to be cheeky now, have you?" she added as her fingers began walking their way up his torso.

"And so what if I have, wife?"

"Oh, shut up." She flicked his red bow-tie at his smug response and sat up. "Now, I am in the mood for some tea and I intend to go make some. You may join me if you like, but if I were you and in a rather cheeky mood, I'd stay there so that I could deal with you properly afterwards. Fine with you?"

"River, I have all of time and space at my fingertips, and you expect me to stay in one place for more than five minutes?"

"Don't worry, love, there won't be much sitting once I get back."

She hung around the door a little longer after closing it to see if he was actually serious. When she didn't hear anything after a minute of waiting, she began walking towards the kitchen.

"Can't say I didn't warn him" she mumbled to herself, lightly chuckling.

The floors of the TARDIS corridors were cold beneath her feet as she paced through them. As she hung her first right (to get to the kitchen, it took two more of those, a left, another right, then two more lefts), she was met immediately with the kitchen door.

"So that makes two of you that are cheeky tonight, eh?" River said, raising an eyebrow as she opened the door.

Just as she entered the kitchen, she heard a loud, electrical noise. She thought nothing of it, telling herself that the Doctor could handle it later, and began gathering things for tea.

She filled up the kettle, placed it on the stove and pulled down the tea box to pick her flavor. Raspberry, Orange Pekoe, Mint, Chamomile, Earl Grey, Passion fruit, Green tea – she browsed through many flavors, falling on a few odd ones that she and the Doctor had picked up on their trips to various planets, then finally decided on some berry flavored one that came from a mix that Amy had gotten her last Christmas.

As she began pouring the hot water into her mug, another noise came from outside. It was closer this time, and more of a loud bang than an electric shock, so River decided to go see what was going on.

Still barefoot, she raced through the TARDIS corridors once again, this time with her plasma gun in hand.

As she reached the console room, she saw tall figure rise of the landing on the staircase. When she looked closer, she saw that it was a girl, a teenage girl, with rather familiar looking hair, but her face wasn't one she had seen before.

Not wanting to take a risk, she took matter into her own gun-wielding hands.

"Who's there? Don't you dare move or I'll shoot!"


	3. Two Ends Not Meant To Meet

River stood there a moment, gobsmacked at the words that had just come out of the girl's mouth.

"I _**beg**_ your pardon?" she spat out, still debating whether or not that was actually what she heard.

Ayra looked around with dodgy eyes before gathering herself and repeating her answer.

"I said" she paused and put on a more serious face "spoilers."

River raised her eyebrows in shock.

"That word, spoilers, how do you know that word?"

She loosened the grip on her gun, now knowing that this girl must have some kind of connection to her in the future, but she none the less kept her aim fixated on the mysterious teen.

Ayra contemplated her answer. She couldn't say that she had learnt the word from her mother, who just so happened to have a gun pointed in her direction and not know who she was, so instead, she used the word again.

"That's a spoiler, too."

River shot the young girl a stern look.

"Look, sweetie, not just anyone can waltz into the TARDIS by using a vortex manipulator, say spoilers and expect to not be questioned. At least tell me your name."

"Well, I guess it's no big deal." Ayra said, realizing her name couldn't hurt anyone's timeline "My name's Ayra."

"Ayra what? Surely you have a family name."

"Now, that's definitely a spoiler."

River rolled her eyes. Sure, this girl was young, but she was also good, better than she had thought her to be.

"So, could you help me out with this thing?"Ayra asked, lowering her arms and gesturing towards the fried manipulator. "I mean, the quicker it's fixed, the quicker I'm out of here and the quicker your life goes back to what it was. It's a win-win situation…"

"_If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." _River decided

"It's not like anyone else can help you, anyways." She replied, placing her gun back in its holster and holding her hand out "Bring it over here."

Ayra took off the device and walked down the remaining steps to meet River. As she placed it in her hands, she took a deep breath.

"Please fix it as quickly as you can. I don't think the owner is too fond about me fiddling around with it and then breaking it, much less me disappearing to begin with, so the faster the better."

"Well," River rotated and inspected the gadget "you seem to have fried it pretty badly. I don't know if I can honestly fix it."

Ayra's face became instantly visible with worry.

"But, I will try my best to get it working." She reassured "Now, just sit on one of those chairs over there and _do not touch anything._ My husband's rather, um, protective over this whole thing."

"Protective's an understatement…" Ayra muttered to herself as she leaned back in one of the jump chairs and dazed off.

River paced down the halls of the TARDIS in a hurry, hoping that the Doctor hadn't heard the whole kafuffle and let his curiosity take over. Just as she thought everything was clear, a figure appeared from around the corner.

"You said five minutes."

It was him.

_Speak of the Devil, _River thought.

"I don't recall saying how long I'd be, sweetie." She scolded playfully "I just remember telling you not to move, which you clearly did not do."

"That is true, but I checked the kitchen. You didn't have any tea." The Doctor retorted, equally playful "So I guess that makes two of us with pants on fire tonight."

River, clad in a smug look, walked him backwards, her finger pushing against his bow-tie.

"I also recall saying I'd deal with you after, so go back and wait, please."

The Doctor, back up against the wall, rolled his eyes at his wife's demand.

"Are you trying to make me pay for making your parents wait? Come on, River, I thought you were better than using old grudges for emotional leverage. And I've also apologized many tim-"

"Of course not, you daft old man." She interjected "Of all the things I don't drag my parents into; it's my sex life with you that tops the list."

"Oh, so you _were_ planning on bringing in the other uses of that bed tonight."

"Who said anything about beds, sweetie?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise and River laughed at his virginal reaction.

"I swear, at times you act as though you've never seen anything adult in your life, and at others, you act like the biggest ladies' man in the universe." She stroked his cheek lightly and sighed "What am I going to do with you, Doctor?"

Just as she finished, a loud beep came from the console room.

"Well, for starters," he said, bopping her on the nose "you can help me find out what that was."

She grabbed his hand to stop him as he darted to the source of the noise.

"How's about I go alone to deal with it and you go and wait like I told you, yeah?" She shot out a little nervously.

"River, a very peculiar sound just came from _my _TARDIS, a bad-sounding one at that. _I _will be doing the checking out, and you may join me if you like, but sitting and waiting, especially when there's a noise like that, is not something I will be doing."

She tightened her grasp on his hand and turned him to face her.

"Sweetie, I'm sure it's something I can handle, now go wait. Believe me," she stepped in closer so that she was a mere inch from his face and then softly added "I'll make it up to you."

He took advantage of the lack of space and pressed a quick peck to her lips then let out a light sigh.

"…No." he answered and then began walking towards the console room, River's hand still firmly gripping his.

She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness as she was dragged along the rest of the hallway.

"By the way" he added, shaking her hand off "why have you got your vortex manipulator with you? I thought you said this was better than Stormcage."

_Shit._ She thought, remembering the broken gadget in her hand, and then quickly hiding behind her back.

"I, um… forgot my diary back in my cell. Was going to pick it up and fill it in while I was having tea."

"Right." He added, turning into the next corridor, leading to the console room.

River once again grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Can you please go back, sweetie? I'm positive I can handle this on my own, no need to worry."

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her again.

"My TARDIS, my repairing." He said, and continued on his path "Besides, is there something you're trying to hide from me over there? Because I don't like secrets. They're so… _secret-y." _

"Spoilers" she muttered, stopping in her tracks as he entered the room.

"River?" he shouted from the entryway "Do you mind telling me who this girl playing a game on my scanner is?"


	4. Surprise!

"You mean the girl who I told sit still and not touch anything?" River scolded as she too entered the console room "I do believe her name is Anna or Ella, or something like that."

"It's Ayra" the girl said, turning off the game of Pac-Man she had on screen "And sorry about moving around, I got bored. By the way, you probably heard a loud beep earlier, don't worry, it was just the game. Forgot to hit mute."

"Right, then. Hello Ayra. Quick question, _how did you get in my TARDIS?"_ The Doctor said, walking up to the stairs and leaning on the railing as Ayra sat down on the steps.

"Well, I used the vortex manipulator your wife is holding" she replied, gesturing to the arm River had behind her back "and when I tried to go back home, it blew up and fried my hair in the process."

"Shame because you have wonderful hair and it is definitely not in need of frying. Nice earrings, by the way, very cool."

"Thank you" she said, bopping the little bow-ties on her ears.

"Now back to business" he continued "Who exactly are you?"

"Spoilers" The two ladies replied in unison.

The Doctor stepped back and glanced back and forth at both of them in shock.

"River, you knew who she was and you didn't tell me?"

"No, I don't, sweetie." She answered "I asked the same question earlier and got the same answer."

"But how does she know spoi-"

"Asked her that too and she won't say a word, expect spoilers that is."

"Hm." The Doctor placed his hands on his hips and turned to face Ayra again. "So, what can you tell us that's not a spoiler?"

There was so much she couldn't say, and yet, that was all she wanted to tell them. _I'm your daughter! You take me out to see the universe on weekends! The TARDIS blue nail polish I'm wearing was from my mom, who is standing right behind you! _If she even hinted at any of that, she may not even exist by the time that River repaired the manipulator. She was torn as to what to let out and what to keep to herself.

"Well, I like to listen to music and I go to university." She finally let out

"What are you studying?"

"I'm in psychology right now, but I don't really like it. I'd much rather study something like, I don't know, anthropology or philosophy, or maybe even archaeology. You know, still working with people, but not so much their problems."

"Ah, yes, humany wumany things. I hear archaeology's a nice thing to study" he glanced at River, lightly smiling "Lots of tombs and old planets and digging and exploring and such. Ask River here, she can tell you more about that, she is an archaeologist after all. A doctor of archaeology, in fact."

"Oh, stop." River shot out, blushing

"Make me."

"Maybe when there aren't young and impressionable people around and maybe if you go back and wait, _I will._"

"Oi! You two!" Ayra snapped "There still is a young and impressionable person here so save the flirting for later, please and thank you."

"Right." He twirled back around to face her "So what can I, or we, help you with?"

"Well, there are two things, mainly." She said "One, I am horribly bored and would like something to occupy my time, preferably something fun."

A smile began to grow on the Doctor's face.

"I can most definitely help you with that." He answered excitedly "We've got a pool, a garden, a giant inflatable castle and ball pit, an anti-gravity chamber, an arcade, a bubble room; you name it, there's probably a room with it somewhere around here. Now, what's the other thing?"

"The person I borrowed the manipulator from wouldn't be too happy if I gave it back to them broken, not to mention I can't get back in the first place if it's not working, so if either of you could fix it, that would be awesome."

"I'm sure a good sonicing should do it. Riv-"

Ayra took her pink sonic out of jacket pocket "Already tried that. It's sort of the reason it's broken to begin with."

The Doctor's jaw dropped at the very sight of the gadget in her hand.

"Bu-wha, HOW? WHERE?" he stammered

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're thinking. It was a birthday present."

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. This girl was getting more complicated by the minute and he didn't like it at all.

"Right, so you get into my TARDIS using a vortex manipulator, say "spoilers" a lot, play games on my scanner, which is usually broken so you clearly know how things work around here, you also have a sonic and you like archaeology too. Judging from that and your hair, I'd say you were a young River, but seeing as I know what she looked like, I know you're not her."

"I most definitely am not River Song, that is true." She replied, tucking a couple loose curls behind her ear. "Speaking of her though, where is she? She was standing right over there a couple moments ago."

"Wait, she left?" The Doctor twirled around to examine the room "Where did she go? Did you see where she went off to?"

"I saw her go down a hallway, not sure whether it was left or right. I thought maybe she just needed to go to the bathroom, but considering it's been 20 minutes, I doubt that. Maybe she went to fix the manipulator?"

He twirled around a couple more times to double check, but River had definitely left the room.

"Right. Maybe she did. I'll just go check to find out where she is." He scratched his head nervously "Now, erm, you just sit and wait there until I get back. Sorry for all the sitting and waiting, by the way. Not very fun. I'll find something fun for you to do once I find River, but until then, just stay here."

He darted down the nearest hallway and Ayra lay down on the step behind her.

"I just want to go home." She sighed out, beginning to count the tiles on the ceiling.

-/-

The Doctor checked every room in that hallway and none of them had his wife in it. He crossed over to the next, which had the workshop and repairing tools in it, but again, no River in sight.

_Where the hell could she be? _He thought, his pace quickening.

He was leaving the kitchen when a most wretched noise echoed throughout the vicinity. His hearts dropped to his toes and their combined rhythm sped up to something faster than any rabbit could ever accomplish. He knew exactly where she was, and knew exactly what she was doing, and the very thought of it made him sprint towards that noise quicker than he thought possible.

He opened the bathroom door with great force, revealing a very washed-out and pale River. She was seated on the floor with her arm supporting her head, just above the toilet, and her other arm was wrapped tightly around her middle.

"River!" he exclaimed, rushing towards her.

She shot a hand up, as though to say "No, no, stay back" and brought her knees to her chest.

"River, I've been covered in alien bogeys and starwhale spit. Whatever you're about to do, or have done, does not scare me in the slightest." He added, sitting down next to her and beginning to rub her back soothingly. "Now, let me help you."

"There's nothing you ca-" she paused and put a hand over her mouth to avoid another unwanted outburst "There's nothing you can do, love. Just leave me be for a bit, this'll pass soon enough."

"Not a chance. I'm the Doctor, after all, here to help." He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

He hated seeing River like this. She was such a string woman, let absolutely nothing get in her way, and here she was, head hung low and no colour in her face.

"How long has this been happening?" he asked, kissing her lightly on the forehead

"Just this week. Kind of expected it to happen at some point, though." She said, closing her eyes and snuggling up into the crook of his neck.

"How did you expect this? You can't really predict spending unwanted time in the loo."

She looked up at his face with raised eyebrows. "Are you telling me you've never heard of morning sickness?"


End file.
